- (Public Value) UCANR: Promoting economic prosperity in California
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
- Author: Ken Giles
- Author: Xuan Liu
- Author: Bill Reynolds
Use of drones (UAVs, unmanned aerial vehicles) for aerial application of pesticides in agricultural crops is becoming a reality.
Drone technology provides an additional tool for growers to control pests and diseases on farms, supplementing traditional ground and aerial spraying practices. This could be especially helpful in areas where there's a shortage of farm labor for pesticide applications or for small areas that require spot treatment.
2020 Drone Trials
In the summer 2020, we evaluated the efficacy of drones compared to airplanes for applying insecticides for summer worm control in alfalfa hay fields (see photo 1). These pests can be highly damaging to alfalfa...
- Author: Kim Ingram
- Editor: Susie Kocher
“Managing your forest as a business comes with both complexity and tax benefits. Working with a tax professional and a Registered Professional Forester (RPF) who has experience in the various financial aspects of forest ownership is important for ensuring forest landowners also enjoy the financial benefits their forest offers.”
-Larry Camp, RPF, forest landowner, retired IRS forester and Forest Stewardship Workshop presenter
Larry Camp knows taxes and forests. As a retired IRS tax professional and forest landowner, he acknowledges that income and expenses related to forest management have tax consequences for forest...
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
- Author: Nicholas Clark
- Author: Sarah Light
- Author: Konrad Mathesius
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This is our second in a series of blog posts on improving nitrogen (N) use efficiency in California small grains. This post focuses on the use of N-rich reference zones to assess in-season N status and make management decisions based on crop need. Our goal is to help growers and consultants learn how to use N-rich zones to improve small grain N fertilizer use efficiency and reduce negative environmental outcomes. To demonstrate what we know about this practice across the small grain growing regions of the state, our team has helped growers establish N-rich zones in their fields across a wide range of soil and climatic conditions. These demonstration sites are in the Sacramento Valley, Delta Region, San Joaquin Valley, and the...
- Author: Phoebe Gordon
Bloom is an important time in all crops, and pistachio is no exception. Some of the activities that are often performed around bloom is mowing or tilling row middles, as well as application of burndown herbicides. However, recently released results from a research project led by Lu Zhang (and also included Bob Beede, Gary Banuelos, Christopher Wallis, and Louise Ferguson), formerly a postdoctoral scholar at UC Davis and now a professor at Oklahoma State, may make you want to rethink the timing of those activities. While I'm writing about this, I was not involved in the research.
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
- Contributor: Brad Hanson
- Contributor: Kurt J. Hembree
With generous donations from seed companies and support from the California Dry Bean Advisory Board, we're working on two research projects in garbanzo beans this year.
One is focusing on the herbicide Tough 5EC (pyridate) for broadleaf weed control in established garbanzo stands. Currently there are no herbicides registered for use in garbanzos after crop emergence except hooded sprays or directed sprays (not on the crop). Tough by Belchim Crop Protection, is currently being registered for use in garbanzos in other states.
We're conducting two trials with Tough in garbanzos; one at the UC West Side Research and Extension Center and the other at UC Davis. Hopefully this will lead to Tough being registered for use on...
